Thursday, 14 August 2014

The Tide is Turning

On 31st of May, 2014, more than 3000 migrants from North Africa reached
the shores of Italy. Most of the refugees, using boats to cross the
Mediterranean Sea, had arrived from Syria. In 2011, the number of
illegal border-crossing detections in the European Union (EU) jumped by
35% to 1, 41,000 as thousands of Tunisians arrived at Italian island of
Lampedusa after the start of ‘Arab Spring’. This exodus from Africa
continued in 2012-13 due to the uprising in Libya and Syria. In 2013, a
boat carrying 360 people from North Africa to Italy capsized in the
Mediterranean Sea. It was not a solitary event and similar accidents
have been reported in the last five years. In 2012, 51% of migrants
entering the EU illegally did so via Greece. This prompted the Greek
authorities to construct a barbed-wire fence at the Greek-Turkish
border.

According to the Dublin Regulation in European Union’s Law,
entry-point states bear unilateral responsibility for migrants. The law
stipulates that asylum seekers must remain in the first European country
they enter, and that country is solely responsible for examining
migrants’ asylum applications. Migrants who travel to other European
Union (EU) states face deportation back to the EU country they
originally entered. In Italy, migrants face fines and deportation under
the Bossi-Finni Immigration law enacted in 2002, which stipulates that
migrants must secure work contracts before entering the country.
According to the law, illegal migration is a punishable offense in
Italy.

The great economic recession that engulfed United States in
2008 affected many countries in Europe as well. The first to fall was
Ireland in 2007-08, followed by Spain, Greece, Italy, Iceland, France
and Portugal. Economic disparity reached new heights while the number of
jobless people was on an all-time high. The Eurozone crisis was blamed
on trade imbalance between countries in Northern Europe and Southern
Europe.

In November 2008, the European Commission presented the
European Economic Recovery Plan which aimed at promoting austerity and
decreased government spending in the affected countries. Following the
recession, there is a significant decrease in confidence faced by
European Institutions and according to data from Eurobarometer, levels
of mistrust towards the European Commission escalated from 27% to 47% in
the period between 2007 and 2013.

Results of the latest round of
European Elections should be evaluated in the backdrop of increased
immigration and financial crisis. Far-Right nationalist parties
witnessed a surge in their vote share and were able to win a few seats
in different countries in the European Union. From among 751 electoral
seats in the EU parliament, far-right or euroskeptic parties were able
to win 108 seats, compared to 56 seats in the previous election.
Countries where Euroskeptic parties made inroads included Germany,
France, United Kingdom, Poland, Greece, Finland, Denmark, Sweden and
Austria. Major political parties across Europe did not place too much
importance on these elections and a sharp decline in number of voters
was seen.

Judy Dempsey-an expert on European politics at Carnegie
endowment for International peace-was of the view that “the turn out
continues to decline [in the EU elections]. This time around, the recent
economic crisis has fed into this sense of disillusionment with Europe
and boosted Euroskeptic parties across the continent. The two most
prominent are Britain’s UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party) and
France’s Front National. It must be said that mainstream parties
standing for European parliament have not done the kind of grassroots
campaigning necessary to defend Europe. In contrast, the
nationalist/populist parties are exploiting this weakness with their own
high-profile campaigning. They are well-organized and highly motivated,
and they are able to sell a very clear message.”

Founder of
France’s ‘Front National’ party suggested prior to the elections that
“releasing the deadly Ebola Virus could sort out Europe’s immigration
issue in three months”. A neo-Nazi party called ‘Golden Dawn’ in Greece
vows to “rid Greece of Filth” and a good number of members of the party
are in prison for hate-crimes against immigrants.In the last few
months, Russia and its annexation of parts of Ukraine, has threatened to
bring war to Europe, after relative peace for the last 70 years. Russia
is the main supplier of Natural gas to Europe and a conflict can lead
to serious energy crisis in European countries including Germany.
Presence of far-right parties in the European parliament is not going to
cause too much trouble for the European populace because of limited
powers of legislation. The maximum that can be achieved by the
nationalist fringe is ‘nuisance value’ during legislation.

Due to
unexpected results in the elections, multiculturalism and integration
have been deemed to fail in European societies. It is far too early to
mourn the demise of an idea as big as multiculturalism. Societies across
Europe are changing at a sluggish pace and it would still take many
decades to integrate migrants from places that are less developed
socially and economically in the diverse native cultures. The
far-right/nationalist movement is a reactionary enterprise and would
defeat itself in the near future.

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About Me

Intrepid Traveler, more interested in Political Economy and History than Medicine, Politically Liberal. I support historical Revisionism(rewriting Pakistan's textbooks). have written for Dawn Blogs(English and Urdu), The News, The Friday Times,The News on Sunday,The Nation, Journal of Pakistan Medical Students, Express Tribune Blogs, Pakistan Today, ViewPointOnline.net and Pak Tea House. Currently Assistant Editor at Pak Tea House. Interested in general knowledge.